The Doors of Death
by CellarDoor96
Summary: A Reuniclus named Phoebe accidentally rings a magical bell, summoning a Haunter called Ruben from another world.  Now, the two of them must work together to get him home.  However, Ruben wasn't the only thing the bell summoned...  Reuniclus x Haunter.
1. Chapter 1: Phoebe

**The Doors of Death**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon, but I do own the characters in this story.

**Chapter 1**

I stared down at the gray slab of rock in front of me. Words were engraved on its cracked surface, large block letters that seemed heavy with the burden they carried. Solemnly, they proclaimed the praises of a life long since ended, a "true companion and loyal partner" who was buried underneath, forever asleep. Tears blurred my vision as I read the words, trying to recall a place and time I had never seen.

I should explain. My name is Phoebe. I'm a Reuniclus, and the grave in front of me is that of someone very important to me: my father.

Gently, I reached out, touching the ancient stone with my large, gel-like hand. You see, my species is entirely encased in a green, translucent substance that keeps us safe, protecting our more vulnerable inner bodies from harm. We evolved it in order to deal with threats as our brainpower improved, resulting in our physical bodies wasting away and becoming nearly helpless. Without the gel, we can't survive. But with it, we can do so much, even using parts of it as limbs to pick up and manipulate the world around us. Each of us possesses two arms made of the gel that we can move freely, one of which I was now using to run over the lettering on the gravestone, feeling its rough and broken surface.

I sighed. I had never known my father, even though I wished I had. My mother told me that he had died a very long time ago, when I was still very young. He had been owned by a human, a Pokémon trainer, and had been accidentally killed in a battle with another trainer. His trainer had brought him here, to Celestial Tower, and had buried him here. In Celestial Tower, the final stop on the journeys of so many Pokémon, my father had been laid to rest.

Noticing that the gel in front of my vision was starting to fill with tiny, clear bubbles that began to slowly drift away from my eyes – my tears – I turned away, taking a deep breath to try and compose myself. My left brain was getting all emotional again, making me shake a little as I tried to contain my sobs.

I should probably explain that, too. See, my brain is divided into two halves, a left half and a right half, and both of them each have their own distinctive personality. My right brain is the more logical side, while my left brain, as mentioned, is the more emotional, creative side. This is completely normal for my species, it's something that all Reuniclus share. I think it's actually kind of weird that most other species don't have it…

_Calm down, you didn't even know him. He died a long time ago, there's no reason to get so worked up now._

_ But… but he's my father! If only he were still alive…_

_ Yeah, well, he's not. Get over it._

_ …F-fine, okay… Okay, fine, I'm over it._ I took another deep breath, absorbing air through the gel that surrounded me and filling my lungs. _…Mostly…_

_Uh-huh._ _Sure you are._

I glanced back at the grave one last time, then sighed and drifted off toward a staircase on the other side of the room. As I drifted, I passed many other graves, all marking the resting places of Pokémon that had met the same fate as my father. The whole place had an eerie feeling, with dim lighting and walls made of old stone blocks, some of them crumbling and nearly falling out. Everything was completely silent, adding to the atmosphere. It was as if the whole tower were holding its breath, watching and waiting for me to make a mistake, and as soon as I made one wrong move it would eat me alive. I shivered.

Once I got to the staircase, I paused. Should I go up or down? This place was kind of scary, but then I didn't really have anywhere else I had to be, and I was a bit curious as to what was in the upper levels of the tower… After a long moment of contemplation, I decided to go up. At the very least, it might provide a nice view of the surrounding countryside. This was really a very pretty area.

Silently, I floated up the spiral staircase. It looked like it might fall apart at any minute, and several steps were broken or missing, but luckily I didn't have to worry about that. It's one of the perks of being a Psychic-type.

Before long, the dim light began to grow brighter, and when I glanced up I noticed an opening a short distance above me. Thinking that that must be the way onto the roof, I continued on up toward it. It wasn't long after that that I reached the opening, and I paused to brace myself against the bright light before floating through it.

Once my eyes adjusted, I looked around, blinking as I took in my surroundings. It seemed my previous guess had been correct: above me was open sky, and on every side I could see for miles in any direction, rolling countryside spread out below me. My breath caught in my throat. It was beautiful.

There was also a bell. For some reason, there was a massive green-and-yellow lump of metal in the center of the tower, suspended by two pillars on either side of it. Its surface was splotchy with rust and wear, but some patches managed to sparkle in the sunlight, hinting at the beauty it no doubt once contained. I gazed at it, wondering why it was there. Maybe the humans had once used it to communicate with the surrounding area? Certainly, it was large enough to be heard for miles around. Curious, I went over to inspect it.

Closer inspection, however, showed nothing more than my initial impression had, and after a moment of thought, I dismissed it. Who knew what went through the minds of humans? I would probably never know what its original purpose was.

Turning, I instead looked out over the edge, thinking quietly as I continued to admire the view. I didn't really think about anything in particular, just… my life in general. I had been wandering on my own for over a year now, ever since I'd evolved into a Duosion; it had been only recently that I'd finally become a Reuniclus, evolving after a particularly grueling battle with a hungry Liepard. It had taken a while to get used to my new powers and appearance, but I thought I'd adjusted pretty well.

With a heavy sigh, I gently lowered myself to rest on the stone rooftop, leaning back on my hands. Sometimes, I wondered about my father. What was he like? What did he like to do? I'd asked my mother about him, but she had said only that he was "very sweet and charming", and little else. So, I'd taken to imagining him in different ways, building up my own image of him based on what I thought the perfect father would be like. He was wonderful, witty, understanding… I missed him so much.

Suddenly, I was jolted out of my thoughts as a grinning face abruptly appeared right in front of me; it was the face of a Litwick, one of the ghost Pokémon that seemed to populate old creepy places like this. I yelped and jerked backward in surprise, only to bump right into the bell I'd been studying earlier. Wincing, I shot a death glare at the mischievous candle, and it giggled. Then, just as quickly as it had arrived, it vanished again.

The next second, there came a loud _gong _sound from right behind me, and I flinched, my body rattling inside its layer of gel from the force. Quickly I moved away from the bell, only to turn and watch in dismay as it continued to swing from side to side. Every time it did so, it released another deafening peal, which made me flinch again and cover my ears each time. _Crap._

Eventually, it slowed down and, gradually, stopped ringing. Tentatively, I uncovered my ears, before breathing a sigh of relief. My heart was still beating in my chest from the shock.

Almost guiltily, I glanced around. Would any humans have heard it? Probably, I answered myself grimly. It was so loud, I'd be surprised if the whole region didn't hear it. Of course, that didn't mean they'd care, at least not enough to come check. Maybe it was a common occurrence for wild Pokémon to ring the bell?

Suddenly, there was a dull _thump_ from right behind me. I immediately stiffened. Darn it, had someone already come to see? Slowly, I turned around, holding my breath anxiously.

What I saw was, to my mild relief, not a human. Rather, it seemed to be some sort of Pokémon, though one I had never seen before. I blinked, staring at it in bewilderment. It looked like just a large, irregularly-shaped purple mass, covered in fur and with a face on one side, which currently looked very confused sprawled on the stone floor. It did not seem to have a body; rather, as I looked more closely, the entire thing appeared to be nothing more than a disembodied, furry head. Only not quite as nasty as that sounds. Strewn across the floor next to it were what looked like two clawed hands, which were similarly disembodied. I assumed the hands were part of it, since they were covered in purple fur just like the main creature even though they were not connected. Overall, this creature was very… strange-looking.

Not to mention confused-looking. It blinked its large eyes dazedly as it met my own eyes, which probably looked just as confused. For a long moment, we stared at each other, neither of us moving.

Finally, the odd creature broke the silence. "…Where the hell am I?" it asked, lifting one of the disembodied hands and scratching its head in bewilderment. "What… what just happened?"

It took me a moment to find my voice. "…Uh, you're uh… the Celestial Tower," I stammered.

It raised an eyebrow at me. "…The hell is a 'Celestial Tower'?"

I gestured vaguely downward, still keeping my eyes on the creature. "Uh, it's… this place," I explained lamely. Where had it come from? Was it a Ghost-type, was that how it had managed to suddenly appear out of nowhere?

It followed my gesture, and seemed to realize for the first time that it was sitting on a solid surface. Quickly it lifted itself into the air, coming to a hover several feet above the ground. I just kept staring. "…Alright, well… How did I get here?" it asked, glancing down at the floor before looking up at me again.

"Uh, I… I don't know," I said truthfully. It didn't know how it had gotten here? "How _did_ you get here?"

It blinked, then frowned, seeming to be trying to remember something. "…Er, well, I just… I was just minding my own business, and then suddenly I'm here. It was like… like I was being pulled or something… There was this noise…"

"Noise?" I asked, eyes widening. Was it possible…?

It nodded, which looked quite spectacular considering it was just a head. "Yeah, a noise. Like a kind of… _crash_ noise, but… higher. Or something. It's hard to explain…"

I glanced guiltily back at the bell behind me. "…A _crash_ noise, huh…"

The creature followed my gaze. "Yeah… Why, does… that thing make noise?" it asked, gesturing at the bell.

I could swear my face was bright red. "…Uh, yeah, it does," I admitted. "I um, accidentally rang it… Do you think that might have something to do with you being here?"

It frowned, thinking. "…It's possible…"

"…Um, if you don't mind my asking, where were you originally?" I asked, mildly curious.

"Home," it said simply. "Doesn't look anything at all like this place, though… This place feels weird. I think… I think this could be an entirely different world, even. Different physics, different look…"

"A… different world?" My mind was blown by that possibility. This creature came from another world? Where? And how?

It nodded. "Yeah, I think so. It's looking pretty likely, anyway." Suddenly it focused on me, and its mouth stretched out into a wide grin. "Say, what's your name? I'm Ruben," it said, and based on its tone and expression, I got the impression that it was trying to… flirt with me? Was it a male, then? Now that I was paying attention, I got the distinct feeling that it was in fact male, just from its body language and behavior. _…Huh._

"I uh, I'm Phoebe," I stammered, feeling my cheeks flush red again, though this time for a different reason. "Sorry for, uh, bringing you here from your home. It was an accident, I swear."

He shrugged, or at least did something that I guessed was a shrug since he had no actual shoulders. "Oh, it's no problem. If you brought me here, it shouldn't be too hard to get back. And besides, I could never get angry at someone as cute as you," he added with a wide smirk.

I averted my eyes, internally cursing myself for blushing so obviously. _Stupid left…_ "Well, uh, I… I uh…" What was I supposed to say to that?

He regarded me with a thoughtful smile for a few moments, then spoke again. "…So, you think you ringing this… thing, brought me here?" he asked, drifted over next to me to inspect the rusty bell. I turned and watched him, curious.

"…Well, you said you heard it ringing… right?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I'd guess so, anyway. I don't really know what it sounds like. Do you think you could ring it for me?"

I paused. "…Well, it's really loud…"

"If it was what brought me here, then it might send me back," he pointed out.

I nodded slowly. "Well, yeah… but it might also bring someone else," I pointed out in turn.

"Yeah, it might… But, still, it's worth a try, isn't it?" he said, giving me a smile.

I sighed, but then nodded. "…Yeah, I guess… Well, here goes." Placing one large hand on the bell, I braced myself, then pushed.

Just like before, it let out a loud _gong_ sound, making both me and Ruben flinch. However, he seemed to be a bit more affected, recoiling away from it as if stung. "Stop it, stop it now!" he yelled, covering his ears.

I quickly grabbed the bell, using both of my arms to steady it. "What, what's wrong?" I asked, looking at him with concern.

He cautiously uncovered his ears, watching the bell warily as if he thought it might ring again by itself. "It's definitely got some sort of spiritual energy," he said, expression grim. "I think you're right, that thing is probably what brought me here."

I slowly let go of the bell, letting it fall back into its normal position. "…Well… how do we get you back home, then?" I was feeling a bit guilty about this whole situation, so I decided that I had to help him get back home, no matter what. It _was_ my fault, after all.

He tapped his chin thoughtfully with one finger. "Well… That's a tricky one, then. I can't get back home using this thing," he gestured to the bell, "and anyway, it's dangerous to mess around with spiritually charged stuff like this. You never know what'll happen…" He paused, frowning and looking downward as he continued to think.

Finally, he looked back up at me. "…What do you know about… 'Giratina'?"


	2. Chapter 2: Phoebe

**Chapter 2**

As it turned out, I knew nothing. But, luckily, Ruben was kind enough to explain to me.

"Giratina," he told me, "is the master of dimensional pathways, at least according to legend. He's worshiped as a deity in my world. It's said that Giratina travels between every world, so, assuming he does exist, there's at least a… a slight possibility, anyway… that we should be able to find him in this one. You sure you haven't heard of him before?"

I shook my head. "Never." Dimensional pathways? The hell were those?

He frowned. "Huh… Well, I haven't ever actually met the guy, and I know it sounds like a long shot, but… I think he might be my best bet for getting home." He paused. "…You know, with the dimensional pathways and… all that."

I stared at him in disbelief. "…Wait, so, you're saying the only way for you to get home… is to find some legendary figure that you aren't even sure exists?"

He shrugged. "Well, it's a suggestion, anyway… You got anything better?"

"…No…" I admitted. "But, even if we did decide to go find this 'Giria'-"

"Giratina," he corrected.

"-Giratina, I wouldn't even know where to start. I told you, I've never heard of him before," I argued. "There has to be some other way."

He shook his head, and he seemed to deflate a bit, giving a heavy sigh. "Nope, not that I know of… Is there somewhere we can go to find out about this kind of stuff, maybe?"

I paused, thinking. "…Well, there are… a few places, yes. But none of them would be around here, and anyway most of them are owned by humans. I think the nearest place would probably be, um… the library in Nacrene City, but that's still… pretty far away…"

He considered that, perking up a bit. "'Nacrene City', huh? You really think that place would know something?" he asked, hopefully.

I hesitated, but then nodded. "Yeah, I think so… I've never been there myself, but I've heard that the library there has information on just about anything you can think of, so it might have what the information we're looking for. Is that where you want to go?" I wasn't looking forward to the trip, but I honestly did think the library in Nacrene City might have what we needed. And besides, I still felt guilty about ripping Ruben away from his home in the first place.

He mulled over the idea. "Just about anything you can think of, eh…? Well, it's worth a try, I guess. At the least, even if it doesn't have anything on Giratina, it might know another way for me to get home." After a moment of further thought, he finally nodded. "Okay, yeah, let's do it. To Nacrene City, just you and me, cute thing!" he said, smirking and winking at me.

I blinked, my face reddening again, and quickly backed away from him. "H-hey, I just said I'd help you find your way home, don't get any ideas," I protested, stuttering a little despite myself. Darn it.

He just winked again, drifting lazily past me to the stairs that led back down into the tower. "That doesn't change the fact that you're cute," he replied, all too cheerfully.

Internally, I groaned. This was going to be a pain.

~.~

We made it to the bottom of the tower without any further incident, which came as a relief to me, what with how my luck had been so far today. As soon as we emerged back into the sunlight, I looked around to get my bearings.

"…Let's see, the best way to get to Nacrene is… Well, first we've gotta go south a bit," I mused, glancing up at the sun to try and figure out my directions. It was morning, and the sun was over to my left, so…

"What's 'south'?" Ruben asked, watching me with a puzzled expression.

I sighed. "'South' is one of the four directions. The others are North, East, and West. North is opposite of South, and East and West are both perpendicular to the two," I explained.

"…So, which way is south?" he asked, his face telling me that he hadn't understood a word I'd just said.

With another sigh, I pointed straight ahead. "That way."

He grinned, and then, grabbing my hand, began to pull me off in that direction. "Alright then, let's get going!" he sang.

I blinked in surprise, my levitation faltering for a second before I quickly reasserted myself, hurrying along behind him. I tried briefly to pull my hand out of his grip, but was unable to and decided grudgingly to let him keep it. Damn, he was stronger than he looked.

"So, what'll we find when we get to 'south'?" he asked, glancing back at me with a wide smile.

I paused to think for a second, calling up a map of the area in my mind, before answering, "…Well… There's a human city just to the south of here, but we can probably go around it… We'll probably have to go through Chargestone Cave after that, though, otherwise we'll have to go over some really bad mountain terrain. After that, we'll go east to Driftveil City, where there's a bridge we'll need to cross over. That part might be tricky…"

"'Human'?" he asked, confused. "What's that?"

Here we go again… He really was clueless, wasn't he?

As I explained to him what humans were and why they should be avoided, I noted absently that the terrain was becoming more rocky, with mountains looming closer ahead of us and to the east. I guessed that in our current direction of travel, we should barely miss Mistralton City, and we would be coming on Chargestone Cave before long. I wasn't really looking forward to that part. I hated caves; they were all dark, and I preferred to be able to see where I was going, thank you very much.

My suspicions were confirmed when I began to hear faint city noises to my right, and when I looked there I could barely see the shine of buildings in the distance, partially hidden by trees. I pulled on Ruben's hand to get his attention. "Chargestone Cave should be coming up soon," I told him.

He nodded. "Alright, just let me know when you see it, babe," he replied, smiling easily.

I had no idea how to respond to that, so I just nodded, hoping my face wasn't too red.

As we continued, Ruben fell silent, seeming to be thinking about something. This was a bit unlike him, so I watched him, wondering why he had stopped talking. Maybe he was trying to process everything he'd seen in the past hour or so? He had, after all, just been thrown into an entirely different world. That had to be a little disorienting.

After a while, I finally broke the silence. "…Are you okay?" I asked, a little concerned.

He blinked, seeming to snap out of his reverie. "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I'm fine," he said, giving me another smile to prove it. "Why?"

"You seemed kind of quiet there for a bit," I noted.

He chuckled. "What, you like hearing me talk?" he teased.

"No, it was just… a little weird." I decided to ignore the flirty tone in his voice, though my face may have heated up a little. The truth was, I kind of did like hearing him talk.

He paused thoughtfully. "…Well… I was thinking about all the stuff that's happened today. You know, what with suddenly showing up in another world… It's a little hard to get used to," he admitted.

I smiled faintly despite myself, giving his hand a slight squeeze for comfort. "Yeah… I can only imagine what that's like," I said, my voice so soft it surprised even me.

He looked back at me with a smile, and for a brief moment, our gazes met. Then, blushing faintly, I tore my eyes away, and he did so at the same time, quickly turning back around to look at the road ahead.

After a long pause, he finally muttered, without looking at me, "…Thanks."

I just nodded in reply, not trusting myself to speak.

It wasn't long after that that I finally stopped, noticing something in a rocky hillside up ahead of us. "There it is," I identified, pointing to a dark opening in the hillside. "That should be it."

Ruben nodded, going over to it and pulling me after him. "…So, this is the famous Chargestone Cave, huh?" he asked, sticking his head inside and peering around. "Hm… Well, we should try and stick close, it looks easy to get lost in there. And we wouldn't want that, would we, cutie?" He winked back at me.

I was starting to get used to his constant flirting, so I didn't get quite as flustered this time, though I did blush a little. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice. At least, I hope. "I guess not," I said at last, sighing. "…Alright, we'll try and stay close. I think I remember the way through, so it shouldn't be too much trouble… Though, I guess it can't hurt to be careful." Not that I had much of a choice, considering he was still holding my hand in his, and somehow I doubted I could convince him to release it anytime soon.

He nodded, then turned back to the cave. "Okay, then… shall we go?" he asked with a smile.

I nodded. "Ready."

Together, we floated into the cave.


	3. Chapter 3: Ruben

**Chapter 3**

**POV: Ruben**

Damn, she was cute.

When I'd started the day, the last thing I'd expected was to end up here, in some kind of alternate universe with a… well, I wasn't really sure what Phoebe was, but she was very cute. Anyway, it was the last thing I'd expected, yet lo and behold, here I was. Did I mention Phoebe was cute? Because she was. Somehow, even though she evidently came from this other world, there was just something really familiar about her; it almost felt as if she were one of my kind, and a very good-looking one at that. The sense of familiarity helped me feel at ease around her, and I felt that I could trust her. Plus, she was cute.

And it wasn't just her looks, either. She seemed kind of shy, which made her even more adorable – when she first blushed, which she seemed to do a lot, it made me practically melt inside. Not to mention, she was nice too. I had no idea how far away this "Nacrene City" was, but from the way she'd talked about it, it seemed pretty far. Yet, she'd still agreed to take me there. I knew there was no way I'd be able to find my way home on my own, so her help was a huge relief.

Then, there was that… weird feeling I got from her. No, no, not anything like that, I'm not a creep. I mean a sort of… tingling feeling, like my hair was standing on end. It's a little hard to describe. I don't know why I got that feeling, but I did, and it made me curious. It was minor enough for me to ignore it, so I decided to think about it later, but, still, it was odd.

Back to the cave. As soon as we stepped inside, I was awestruck. So far, most of what I'd seen of this world was just your usual stuff, if not oriented quite the way I was used to: fields, forests, a stream or two. But, this cave… This was different.

Everything was lit with an eerie, bluish glow. The source of this glow appeared to be a number of blue, glowing rocks, which were scattered around the cave; some of them were lodged in the rock walls, but others, interestingly enough, appeared to be floating in the air around us. Curious, I reached out a hand to touch one of them.

"Don't touch them," Phoebe immediately warned. I stopped in my tracks.

"Why?" I asked, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow.

"They're electrically charged, they'll shock you." She nodded at the one I'd been about to touch. "Depending on how much charge it has, it could just give you a harmless shock… but it could also kill you. Try and stay away from them."

Yeah, no kidding. Shuddering a little, I pulled my hand back away from the weird floating rock. "Okay, got it. No touchie."

That made her smile a little. Aw, she looked so cute like that… "Nope, no touchie," she echoed.

We continued on, with Phoebe presumably keeping track of where we were going, because I sure wasn't. As we floated along, I asked her, watching the rocks in mild curiosity, "Hey, why… _do_ these rocks float and glow, anyway? They look kind of like these things we have in my world, only… they're not."

"They're magnetized," she explained. "It's what happens when you put certain substances inside an electrical field. Magnetic objects repel or attract other magnetic objects, depending on how they're polarized, which is why they're floating."

"So… this isn't weird for your world?" I asked, thinking that over. I only understood about half of what she'd just said.

"…No, it's still kind of weird," she admitted. "I think this is the only place on the planet that's like this. But it's not impossible, at any rate…"

"…Huh…" Strange to think how something so mundane in one place could be so unusual in another. Still, it was pretty weird to see this sort of thing here, and it most definitely was _not_ the same phenomenon, despite how similar it looked. Besides, rocks in my world may have floated, but at least they didn't glow. I mean, who ever heard of glowing rocks?

After a while of wandering through this dim, eerie landscape, I started to get a strange feeling. Man, ever since I'd found myself in this place, I'd been getting those all over the place. But this one was different. It wasn't painful, like the sound of that bell had been, and it was more than a minor discomfort, unlike my feeling about Phoebe. It was a kind of cold, ominous feeling, like there was something very, very wrong in this place. And I don't mean just the floating rocks.

"Are we almost out yet?" I whispered to Phoebe, not really sure why I was whispering. I felt like someone was watching us.

She blinked, shaking herself out of whatever thoughts she had apparently been wrapped up in. "Huh? Oh, er, yes, I… I think so," she whispered back. "It shouldn't be much farther…"

"Oh, good," I said, giving a slight chuckle to try and alleviate that growing sense of fear. "I was starting to think we'd never get out of here."

She said nothing, just kind of rolled her eyes before continuing onward. Huh, strange how the gestures used in this world to communicate emotions seemed to be the same as in my own. At least, for females, it seemed. Must be some kind of universal constant that girls have to act like this.

The feeling didn't disappear, though. In fact, if anything, it seemed to get even stronger as we continued on. I was seriously wondering how it was that Phoebe didn't seem to feel it. I mean, hell, _I_ felt it, and I'm told I'm about as inattentive as they come. Maybe she did feel it, but thought it was normal because she lived here?

Suddenly, something skittered across the corner of my vision, and I jumped. Phoebe came to a stop, giving me a questioning glance. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeming a little nervous herself.

I scanned the cave around us, paying extra attention to the shadows where the light of the glowing stones did not reach. I could've sworn I'd seen something… "Uh… No, it's nothing. Thought I saw something…"

She smiled a little, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. "A lot of Pokemon make their homes here, you probably saw one of them," she explained quietly. "I'm actually kind of surprised we haven't seen any already…"

Damn, she looked so adorable when she was smiling like that, but I was too nervous to think about it much. "…Yeah, that was probably it," I decided at last, giving the area one final glance-over before nodding, starting to move forward again. Phoebe resumed her pace at the same time.

Now, I'm not a coward or anything, in fact, I consider myself pretty brave. I mean, I just got dumped into a completely alien world, and I haven't freaked out once. Well, not yet, anyway. It's still kind of sinking in. But in any case, I may be brave, but I know when to get worried. And right now, I was worried. Something was wrong. I was sure of it.

Regardless, we continued on. I think Phoebe may have just been lying to reassure me when she said we were almost out, or else she was mistaken, because I saw no sign that we were going to be out of here anytime soon. She started to look a little worried, too, and we had to stop a few times while she figured out where to go, so I wasn't entirely reassured that she wasn't getting us horribly lost. Still, I didn't say anything, figuring she would know this place much better than I would.

Then, without any warning whatsoever, everything went dark.

We were instantly plunged into darkness. I jumped a little, taken by surprise, and Phoebe gave a tiny squeak of fear, squeezing my hand even harder. Without thinking about it, I pulled her closer. "…Phoebe. What's going on?" I asked, once I'd registered what had just happened. Suddenly, that bad feeling I'd been having had gotten a whole lot worse.

"I… I don't know," her voice came after a moment, nearly an octave higher than normal. "Did… did the lights go out?"

"Yes, I think they did," I responded dryly, trying desperately to remain calm myself. Luckily, I managed to avoid sounding like a scared little Gastly.

"…But… but that's impossible," she protested, disbelieving. "Why would the rocks all just suddenly lose their charges at once…?"

No one said anything for a long moment, both of us just sitting there and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Neither of us dared move.

Then, I realized something. "…Wait," I said, blinking ineffectually as I turned my head, cocking my ears to try and catch any sort of sound, "…if all those rocks lost their 'charges', and these 'charges' are what make them float…" I paused, swallowing nervously. "…Then why haven't they fallen yet?"

There was a horrified silence, as we both stopped to consider that. At last, Phoebe stammered, "Um… well, maybe they… still have their charges, but just… aren't glowing anymore… for some reason…?"

"I thought they glowed because they were charged?"

"…Er, yes. Yes, that's… that's right…"

There followed yet another silence. Then, there came a sudden skittering noise, from somewhere nearby. It was hard to tell exactly where it came from, since it echoed in the darkness of the cave, but it was definitely from somewhere close by. I swallowed. "…Phoebe?"

"…Y-yes?"

"You… wouldn't happen to have memorized the way out, would you? Can you find your way even in all this?"

There was an awkward pause. Then, "…Er, well… No."

"…Damn."

Abruptly a faint light appeared ahead of us, and we both blinked, momentarily blinded. I lifted a hand to shield my face, and not until my eyes had adjusted did I lower it again. Once I did, though, I was met with what may have been the strangest sight I had seen in this world so far. My body went cold.

Standing in front of us, only a short distance away, was an odd, bipedal creature. I didn't recognize it or its species, but I got the impression that it was relatively young, probably from how its size didn't seem to match its body structure. I also got the distinct feeling that it was female. It appeared to be the source of the light, as its body was glowing, light pouring out of its skin to shine through the strange coverings it seemed to be wearing. It stood motionless, not moving.

The first thing that clued me in that this creature was bad news was its eyes. They were a pale gray, and they were staring straight at me and Phoebe with a cold, penetrating gaze, completely empty. There was nothing there. No life, no soul – whatever this thing was, it was not alive.

Yet, it was. I could sense a presence within it, some sort of mind that made it move. But the presence was not the same as the creature. The two were completely different, and as I stared at this apparition, trying to figure out what the hell it was, I felt that there was just something inherently _wrong_ about it. Whatever it was, it was not natural.

"…Phoebe," I whispered, not taking my eyes off the creature.

"…Yes…?"

"That's… not natural, is it?"

"…N-no, it's not…"

"Thought so…"

Suddenly, the strange glowing figure opened its mouth, and it began to speak. Its voice was quiet, almost a whisper. It did not move its mouth. "_…Are you… the summoner?_"

Phoebe and I exchanged glances. I could barely see her face in the dim light provided by the strange creature, but even then, I could still tell that she was scared, her eyes wide and her body shaking. I was probably looking pretty nervous, too, though I hope I was doing a decent job of not showing it. After a long moment, Phoebe turned to look at the creature again, and slowly, she responded, "I… I summoned him, if that's what you mean… It was, um, an accident, though…"

The figure turned to look at her, its eyes still blank and emotionless, and she seemed to shrink away slightly from its gaze. I shivered sympathetically. At the same time, though, I was furiously racking my brain, trying to figure out what this creature might be; how did it know that I had been summoned from somewhere else, and more importantly, what did it want with the two of us? For some reason, I felt like there was something familiar about it, something I should recognize…

Then, the creature opened its mouth, and it began to sing. My eyes widened. I knew that song.

It was a wordless, eerie song, full of broken notes and strange chords, the effect of which made my skin crawl. Almost immediately, I felt my strength start to slip away, my life force leaving me. Oh no. No. This was not good.

Phoebe winced and retracted her ears a little inside her gel casing, looking completely bewildered. I knew that I had to do something fast, or else we were both dead. Even if I did do something, it might already be too late. I had no idea how powerful this Perish Song might be.

Releasing Phoebe's hand, I faced the strange apparition, willing myself to remain calm, and then, without wasting any time, focused my energy into my hands and summoned a small black ball of swirling plasma. A Shadow Ball. I quickly fired it at the creature.

The creature made a sort of clumsy attempt to dodge out of the way, but it was too slow, and the attack connected. The song stopped as the creature was flung backward with a cry of pain, to crash into a rocky wall a short distance behind it. It crumpled to the ground and went motionless.

Even before my target had hit the ground again, I had grabbed Phoebe's hand and was pulling her forward, hurrying past the crumpled figure and further into the tunnels. Phoebe didn't resist, looking kind of stunned. I'm not entirely sure she understood what had just happened, so she may have thought I was some sort of crazy or something. Oh well, I'd just have to explain it to her later. For now, we had to get out.

I had no idea where to go, so I just took turns as I saw them, not really caring where we went as long as it was away from that abomination. Because I knew what that thing was. Or, at least, I sort of knew.

We were plunged back into total darkness after only a few turns, deprived of the light that the strange creature had provided. It seemed that the floating rocks still hadn't turned back on, which sucked, because that meant that we were now blind. But we kept rushing around, desperately trying to find our way out.

Somehow, we did eventually make it back out, emerging back into the bright light of the outside world. We both stopped and blinked in the light, panting tiredly as we waited for our eyes to adjust. At the same time, we finally allowed ourselves to relax, relief filling in where panic had been before, and we both sagged to the ground in exhaustion.

Once we had both caught our breaths, we glanced at each other. Phoebe was the first to speak. "…Ruben," she began, hesitantly, "…what exactly just happened?"

That was a good question. I frowned, trying to think of a response that would satisfy her. "…Uh… I'm not really sure," I said at last, slowly. "It was pretty weird, though." Okay, so that wasn't the entire truth, but it _was_ true. I really didn't have any idea what was going on. The only thing I knew was what that thing had been. As for why it had come here or why it had tried to kill us, I had no idea.

She paused, considering that. After a moment, she asked, "…Why did you attack it?"

I blinked. She didn't know? "…Uh, it tried to kill us?" I said, thinking it was pretty obvious why I'd attacked it.

She stared uncomprehendingly. "…How?"

"The… the song, obviously. You know, Perish Song? It drains the life out of everyone who hears it, and if you don't stop it fast enough, it can kill you."

Realization dawned on her face. "…Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

Blushing sheepishly, she looked down, fidgeting a little with her gelatinous hands. "Well… I guess it was good that you stopped it, then," she murmured.

I smirked. She looked really cute when she was embarrassed. "Hey, no problem. Anything for a cutie like you."

Her blush intensified, but she still didn't look up. Heh, that was fine with me, I didn't have to see her eyes to know I was having an effect on her. She opened her mouth as if to respond, only to think better of it and close it again. Aw.

At last, I reached over and took her hand again, floating up off the ground and pulling her along with me. She squeaked in surprise, but then quickly stifled it, the red glow on her face intensifying briefly as she fell into place beside me. I grinned and winked at her. "What, you don't want me to hold your hand?" I teased, giving said hand an affectionate squeeze.

She looked away, trying to hide her face. It didn't help any. "W- n, er, I, well…" she stammered, before forcing herself to pause, collecting her thoughts. "…I… w-well, um, we aren't in the, um, cave anymore, so, um… I don't see why you'd… need to…"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," I said, and with a smirk I obligingly released her hand. She hesitated, but then withdrew it quickly. I figured there was no point in making her uncomfortable like that if she didn't want to be. That was fine, there would be plenty more opportunities to make her uncomfortable later.

Taking a deep breath, she attempted to recover her composure, and for the most part she succeeded, though I could still see the tiniest trace of red on her cheeks. With a brief glance up at the sky, she turned slightly, and she motioned for me to follow before setting off. "This way to Driftveil," she announced, her voice sounding ever-so-slightly shaky.

"Okay. To Driftveil it is," I agreed, and with a smile I followed her.


End file.
